Electric bell-ringing apparatus



(No Model.) 0. GASSETT.

ELECTRIC-BELL RINGING APPARATUS. No. 293.671. Patented Feb. 12,1884.

1 I I a I g s WJTNESSESS: {iN VENTOR Y (0311 v CLssUT E/ A A g MMm/q (AL: ATTORNEY N. Prrzns Phnlalilhaxmpher. Washingiun. u. c.

' TUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR GASSETT, 013 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC BELL-RINGING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 293,571, dated February 12, 1884.

Application filed January 19, 1583.

"To all whom it 'majconcern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR GAssETT, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Electric Bell-Ringing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this 7 street crossings, or in burglar-alarms, or for other kindred uses in which such an apparatus is needed or is desired.

When constructed in what I believe to be its best form, my apparatus consists, in general terms, of two electro-magnets or other clectromotors brought automatically and alternately into action, so as to operate in succession the opposite ends of an armature-lever, the operation of which shall impart to a swinging hammer before it strikes the bell such amount or degree of momentum that not only shall the bell be struck, but also a circuit changer or commutator shall be shifted or reversed thereby with reference to the throwing one electromotor out and the other into action. I

In the drawings, B represents a bell or other alarm device suitable for the purpose, and b is the hammer. Two electro-magnets, D and D, are employed, and they are supported by battery, 9, and may, in succession and alternately, be operative on the armatures a of an armature-lever, a. The latter is pivoted at or near its middle pointon a pivotshaft, c,

(No model.)

which, by clips 0', is hung to fixed shaft 0, so that the armature-lever a may have a little freedom of endwise motion, if so desired. The end of the armature -lever ahext the bell has a recess, 6, in which a friction-roller, e,

plays, and this friction-roller is mounted in one arm of a rocker, e which is fixed on the' pivot shaft b; which at its outer end carries the hammer b. The opposite end or,arm of the rocker is recessed, as at s, s0 asto formtwo prongs, s s, which come on opposite sides of the lower end of a pivoted circuit-changer, a; of which 0" is the pivot-shaft. The upper end of this circuit-changer alternately engages and presses up, and di'sengages or allows to come such as the purposes for which the apparatus is to be used may require.

For railway-track and street crossings, a train-actuated circuitcloser or circuit-changer should be employed, and, as many such are known in the art and the manner of their application is well understood, I do not deem it necessary to show or describe them in detail. For other alarm purposes, a circuit closer or changer adapted to the workrequired may be employed. The lines of circuits may then be completed by wires 1 and 2, the latter dividing into two branches, 3 and 4, one of which leads through the helix or coil of D, and thence by wire 5 to z, and the other, 4,

.leads through the helix or coil of D, and

thence by wire 6 to 2 The flexible strip z is connected to the other battery-pole by wire 7.

In the position of the devices shown in Fig. 1 the hammer is in position at the end of its back-stroke, and'while coming to that position the prong s has been caused .to engage the lower end of the circuit-changer r, so as to cause its upper end to press the flexible or movable conductor 2 out'of electrical contact with z and into electrical contact with z. This breaks the circuit through electrdmag net D and closes the circuit through D. As a result of this the right-hand armature is released from electromagnetic influence, and the left-hand armature is attracted and drawn to the magnet-poles of D with a rapidly-increasing force asit moves toward the poles. The armature-lever a then,actin g by recess a through roller 0 on the rocker 0*, and through it on the shaft 1) and hammer Z),causes the hammer to move with a constantly-accelerated velocity toward the bell. By preference the parts are so proportioned and constructed that the armature strikes the magnet pole or poles, or comes to the end of its movement in that direction just before the hammer strikes the bell, and as the armature toward the end of its movement acts with comparatively considerable force, a considerable momentunrwill then have been imparted to the hammer, and this momentum should be such that the hammerstroke will be completed, so as to give the de sired audible signals, and still further will cause the prong s to engage the downwardlyprojecting arm of the eircuit-changerr, and turning the latter on its pivot will cause its upper end or arm to clear or pass away from the flexible strip or movable conductor z to such extent that the latter may break contact with z. and make contact with 2 and thus the circuit through D will be broken and the circuit through D will be restored. The righthand end of the armature-lever a will then be drawn down, and the upward movement of the left-hand end will cause the hammer to swing back to the position shown, and as D will then be acting with a constantly-accelerated force, it will, in the manner above described with reference to D, impart such momentum to the hammer b that after the lever a ceases to move,the hammer motion will continue, and so cause the prong s to engage the lower arm of the circuit-ehanger r and shift it back to the position shown, with the result of breaking the circuit through D and restoring it through D, and so again causing the bell to ring. The actions described will then go 011 continuously and in succession so long as the battery 9 is kept in circuit, as shown. It will be observed that for the purpose of thus working the circuit-changer r not so much by the direct action of the eleetro-magnets as by their indirect action through the momentum imparted to the hammer the recess 6 in which the roller 0 worksis made a littlelarger than the roller, and that the points of the prongs s s are at a little distance apart, and preferably so far apart, and in such position relative to the lower arm of the circuit-changer, that they will each engage such arm at or about the time the corresponding movement of the armature-lever ceases. This feature of invention namely, operating the circuit-changer by the momentum imparted to the hammer-is of ad vantage, among other things, in this, that the circuit cannot be changed until after the elecfro-magnet included therein has completed its work. The hammer is hung or adj usted in position bypreference as shown in the drawings, so that, swinging in its movement somewhat like a pendulum, it will tend by its gravity, immediately after completing its stroke in either direction, to start on its return-stroke, and thereby coact with the electro-magnet newly brought into circuit in producing a complete movement, that being the time when electrical action is weakest. Toward the end of its stroke in either direction, when the resistance which it gives is greatest, the electro-magnet then in circuit is acting with a rapidly-increasing force, whereby to complete the stroke and give to the hammer the desired momentum; and, as further aid in this direction, I usually make the hammer-stem of spring or elastic metal, so that the rebound at the end of the stroke shall aid in produ cingthe reverse stroke. The operation and effect thus set forth may be secured even if the hannner itself be made comparatively light, so that its momentum will be small or relativelyinappreciable, provided only that devices moving therewith be so constructed and combined that the momentum of the same, under the conditions stated, shall in the manner substantially as set forth work a circuit-changer, or so complete its work that in effect the circuit sh all not be wholly changed until after the corresponding electromotor has completed its work as a motor. The movement of the circuit-changer may be commenced before the end of' the armature motion, and, in fact, bya nice adjustment, the armature motion and the circuit'changer motion may end at the same instant, provided that such end of motion occur before the hammer. strikes the bell, and, further, provided that the hammer or devices connected thereto or moving -therewith, or all jointly, then havesuch momentum as to effect the bell-stroke, and also to continue the movement of the circuit-changer, so as to make provision for any possible slowness in the action of the circuit-changer, and in like manner as to the reverse or back stroke of the hammer; also, the form or construction of the circuit-changer or commutator may be changed at pleasure and be combined with the hammer or its moving connections in any desired way, provided only that it receive the whole or some part of its motion from themomentum of the moving parts after the corresponding armature movement has ceased; and in like manner solenoids or other means of applying and transmitting electrical force may be substituted for the electro-magnets D D, and these and other like modifications, as well as substitution of mechanical equivalents, are included herein.

9 In describing, as Ihavc done, certain devices as upward, downward, right and left hand 7 &c. it will be understood that I use these terms in a relative and not in their absolute sense, as the apparatus maybe used,though perhaps less advantageously, in other than the position shown, or the invention, at least in some of its features, may be incorporated in the construction of apparatus in which position would be comparatively unimportant.

The friction-roller e may be omitted, if so 5 desired, in which case the rocker-arm will work in the recess 6 Without change in operation and effect.

I claim herein as my inVenti0n-- I 1. The armature-lever a, recessed as at e, 10 in combination with the three-pronged rocker e' and circuit-changer a", substantially as set forth.

2. The electro magnets D D and their 'respective circuits, the armaturelever on, re-

versing the current after and only after the corresponding armature motion has ceased,

' substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

OSCAR eAssEtrtr.

Witnesses:

R. H. WHIITLESEY, GEORGE H. CHRISTY; 

